Sherdog’s Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings

Buckwild in the Buckeye State

In front of a raucous, hometown crowd at UFC
203 in Cleveland, Stipe
Miocic defended the UFC heavyweight title, pounding out
Alistair
Overeem in the first round. However, his performance does not
make the division’s title picture any less muddled.

While Cain
Velasquez’s July blowout of Travis
Browne made the former divisional ruler look prime for another
title fight, the man Miocic dethroned, Fabricio
Werdum, rolled into Cleveland and took a second win over late
replacement Browne before calling out Miocic in hopes of securing a
rematch. Whatever Miocic’s next title defense might look like now
entirely rests in the hands of the UFC.

Meanwhile, below the very top of the division, old veterans are
still hacking it out. Josh Barnett
and Andrei
Arlovski -- two former UFC heavyweight champs who in 2000 made
their Octagon debut on the same card, UFC 28,
back in the Semaphore Entertainment Group era of the company --
squared off in Hamburg, Germany, on Sept. 3. “The Warmaster” pushed
past Arlovski in the third round, taking his back, choking him out
and reaffirming his relevance, even at 38 years old, in MMA’s
heavyweight ranks.

Recent happenings are not just confined to the heavyweight class,
though: The most notable mover and shaker in this Sherdog rankings
update is bantamweight standout Jimmie
Rivera, who in his 20th pro victory, finally notched a
career-defining win by taking a clean sweep of the scorecards
against Urijah Faber
and vaulting into our 135-pound top five. Meanwhile, former
bantamweight Jessica
Andrade has dropped to 115 pounds and in just two fights made a
massive statement to launch herself into the women’s strawweight
notables.